Fabric



March 1, 1949. A. SAVAGE 2,463,122

' FABRIC Original Filed April 28, 1944 Fig. I

ATTORNEY fabric.

Patented Mar. 1,1949

-err-"ice FABRIC Lawrence Alexander Savage, Pelzer, S; 0., assignor toThe Kendall Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of MassachusettsOriginal application April 28, 1944, Serial No. 533,156. Divided'andthis application March 11, 1946, Serial No. 653,604

7 Claims.' (cr es-ass) The present invention relates to improvements infabrics. The present application is a division of applicants copendingapplication Serial No. 533,156, filed April 28, 1944, now Patent No.2,410,394, for Manufacture of textiles.

It is a principal object of the invention to produce a novel andimproved fabric in which the angular relation of the filling yarns andthe warp yarns is controlled to produce a distinctively new and usefulstructural characteristic of the woven Specifically, in accordance withthe invention, it is proposed to. vary the angular relation ofsuccessively woven filling picks to the warp, so that a recurringpattern of change in appearance and in the structural characteristics ofthe fabric is produced in the woven fabric. Such variation may beemployed, for example, to produce a distinctive design characteristic inthe fabric, or to cause the direction of successively added fillingpicksto conformwith the outline or shape of the articles to be made fromthe fabric.- Controlled variations in'the, angular relation of thefilling and warn yarnsmay also be employed to impart an unusual strengthcharacteristic to the fabric to increase the resistance of the fabric tostretch or failure from stresses" exerted on the fabric in particulardirections or with relation to some focal area of support. I

With the above noted and otherob'je'cts'in view as may hereinafterappear, a; feature of the invention consists in the construction andarrangement of a woven fabric having warp ends I and filling picks ofwhich filling picks along the length of the fabric are with respect toone another in different angular relations from the perpendicular to a.line extending in the direction of the warp. 1

A preferred form of such fabric wovenupon the loom illustrated and inaccordance with the 40 method described and claimed more particularly inapplicant's copending application aboverreferred to, may have thedirection or the filling picks changed with relationto said perpendicu-'lar direction either abruptly or gradually and in accordance with anydesired recurringp'ah I tern of change.

, More specifically, a 'feat reof the invention 7 consists 1 in theprovision of a woven fabric ofwhich the filling picks. alongthe lengthof the fabric are'gradually inclined first in one direc 1 tion and thenin the other direction from the? perpendicular to a line extendingwarpwise of the fabric to form abutting fabric areas considered arealternately in converging and diverging relaof Ross C. Whitman, issuedto Patent vNo.

2,396,905, dated March 19, 1946, for improvements in the Manufacture oftextiles. 'In accordance with the teaching of that application, a fabricblankis woven consisting of a two-ply I fabric having interwoven stripareas uniting the fabric plies so that by cutting along the interweaves,individual cheese bandages can be severed from the blank which whenopened out are tubular in shape and ready for use." I

In accordance withthe present invention, a. i new and improved fabricfor use in the manu-. facture of cheese bandages is produced in whichthe weft yarns forming the adjciningtwo-ply fabric areas are fanned outto form alternately i. converging and diverging fabric .areas., Theinterwovenstrip areas extending weftwise of the fabric interposedbetween and connecting together the'two-ply fabric areas are woven with.weft' yarns which are inclined by a substantial amount .fromtheperpendicular to the direction of the warp so that the strip areas arecorre-' spondingly inclined in alternately converging and divergingrelation to one another.

. The cheese bandages formedfrom a blank of this description by severingalong the line of 'the interweave will when opened out have the shape ofa truncated cone, the amount of taper depending upon the amount by whichthe weft yarns forming the interweaves are inclined from theperpendicular to the ,directionof the warp V in the woven blank. Inaccordance with'the invention, this useful characteristic of the wovenfabric isproduced without any necessity of employing the complicatedharness and 'cam or jacquard controls'which would ordinarily have beenrequired for the weaving of such a pattern.

' The fabric blank illustrated as embodying in a preferred form theseveralfeatures of the invention, is woven with the apparatus and inaccordance w th; the method described and claimed in applicantscopendingapplication .above re- '-ferred to, of which thisapplication is adivision.

As indicated in Figr'z of the drawing, provisionis made 'in-the loomfor-controlling the warpin such/a,-manner as tocause 'a temporary skew'tobe'imparted 'to the warp ends "passing through the 'heddles and-reedsupl 'ortd by the lay, and

warpwise of the fabric in whichtheffilling picks 55 thereafter-when thefilling picks have been woven pear in the finished fabric in positionsinclined from'the perpendicular to a line extending warpwise of thefabric. In order to produce the fabricshown in Figs. 1 and 2 of thedrawings, in which a fan-like arrangement of the filling picks first inone and then in the other direction is pro-' duced, the amount anddirection of the skew.

imparted to that portion of the warp passing through the loom iscontrolled to cause the warp to be skewed gradually first in onedirection and material of which the individual yarns may run' between205 and 50s in size. Substantial variation may appear in the weave, asany loose mesh material of this general type having the requisitestrength circumferentially of the bandage maybe employed. It ispreferred, however, to employ fabric having a count which may runbetween and 35 in the lengthwise direction of the bandage, that is,weftwise of the fabric, and between 30 and 50 in the transversedirection of the bandage, that is, warpwise of the fabthen in the otherdirection in timed relation with the weaving and pattern controlthereof, so that the successive interwoven strip areas will be placed inalternatively converging and diverging relation to one another.

The several novel features of applicant's improved fabric as hereindescribed and claimed, will be readily understood by one skilled in theart from the following description taken in connection ,with theaccompanying drawings, in

which Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating a portion of afabric blank embodying in a preferred form the features of theinvention; and Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view in perspective illustratingone method of producing applicants novel fabric on a loom.

The fabric blank illustrated in the drawing embodying in a preferredform the several features of the invention, comprises a two-ply fabricI!) produced by tubular weaving, and having at spaced intervals thereininterwoven strip areas l2, H, which extend transversely of the fabricalternately converging and diverging with relation to one another, andserve to divide the blank into bag-like sections from which individualcheese bandages aresevered in their finished form ready for use.Whereas, in the copending application of Whitman above referred to, theinterwoven'strip areas extending obliquely across the blank are producedby the use of a relatively large number of harnesses and pattern meansfor controlling the same, the converging and diverging interwoven stripareas of the illustrated fabric blank are produced by controlling theangular relation of the warp ends and the filling picks, so that thefilling picks in certain portions of the completed blank extendwidthwise thereof in directions inclined from the perpendicular to aline extending warpwise of the fabric.

'Figs. 1 and 2 disclose a fabric blank of which each transverselyextending fabric section including the interwoven strip areas at eachside thereof is constructed and arranged to comprise two cheese bandagesplaced end-to-end widthwise of the fabric. Each interwoven strip area I2is inclined leftwardly across half the width Of the fabric and thenrightwardly across the remaining width of" the fabric in accordance withthe direction taken by the included filling picks. Each and thenleftwardly across the remaining width of the fabric. The disposition ofthe filling picks contained within each section-of two-ply fabricbetween adjacent interwoven strip areas is such I that these picks arerelatively crowded together in the narrower portions of the fabricsection and fan outwardly to form the wide portions of the fabricsection.

It will be understood that a cheese bandage in accordance with theillustration of the Whitman application above referred to, is preferablycomposed of a loosely woven unbleached cotton ric for each fabric ply.

In the illustrated form of blank produced in accordance with theinvention, a relatively low count of filling picks, of the order of 20to 30 to the inch, is employed in the weaving of each fabric plycontained between the interwoven strips I2, l4, and a substantiallyincreased number of filling picks, of the order of 40 to 60 to the inch,may be employed in the weaving of the strip areas l2, M. The blank hasa. relative- 1y high count of warp ends which may be in the order of 40ends to the inch. For purposes of illustration, it'is assumed that eachfabric ply will have a count ofAll warp ends to'the inch and 20 fillingpicks to the inch. In the interwoven strip areas, the count of yarns inboth directions is doubled by the inclusion of the yarns of both fabricplies so that there are warp ends to the inch, and 40 filling picks tothe inch. Preferably, however, the count of picks in the fill is stillfurther increased to about 50 in the interweaves to insure a strongunion of the fab- .ric plies, although cases may arise in which a countof less than 40 picks is found desirable. The individual cheese bandagesto be severed from the fabric blank are located in the blank with theirlongitudinal axes extending transversely thereof, so that the warp endsof the blank become the circumferentially extending yarns of theindividual bandages and the filling yarns of the blank become thelongitudinally extending yarns of the individualbandages.

The fabric blank herein disclosed is of advantage considered as a stepproduct in the manufacture of cheese bandages, also in that the fillingyarns forming each interwoven strip area of the fabric are all containedwithin the strip area throughout their length, so that the number ofpicks per inch within the interwoven strip area, may be substantiallyincreased to still further strengthen the union between the fabric edgesprovided by the interweave without affecting the weave of the fabricplies forming the body portion of the individualbandages.

Fig. 2 of the drawings provides a somewhat fragmentary disclosure of apreferred form of apparatus and method for producing the fabric shown inthis figure and in Fig. 1. This figure illustrates particularly thecontrol of the warp as it is fed through a. loom which may be of wellknown description, to produce a fabric in which the filling picks areinclined in varying degrees and in different directions from a verticalto the line of the warp to produce a recurring pattern of change alongthe length of the fabric as itis woven. 'It is assumed that the fabricis produced on a loom having mechanism for take-up roll 22, an idlerroll 2% over which the warp ends are drawn from the beam 20, an idlerall times skewed by an equal amount in theopposite direction so thattheindividual warp'yarns roll 26 over which the woven fabric is drawn as itis woven, and two pairs of skew rods, including rods 28, 30pivoted'intermediate their lengths and linked together for engagementwith that portion of the fabric extending from the idler roll 26 to thefabric take-up roll 22, and

including pivotally supported skew rods 32, 35v

which engage with and are permitted to adjust themselves freely againstthat portion of the warp passing from the idler roller 2d. The 'angularposition of the skew rods 28, 30 is controlled ositively from thepattern control mechanism of the loom by means of a downwardly extendinglink connection 36 with the outer end of skew rod 28. The two sets ofskewrods 28, 30, and32, 34 are located at opposite sides of the weavingapparatus consisting of the harnesses, lay and shuttle mechanism, whichmay the two-ply or tubular portion of the fabric, so

that the filling picks are interwoven across the warp with individualwarp ends which have been progressivelyadvancecl or retarded from theirnormal position with relation to one another. Subsequently, as thecompleted fabric leaves the loom, and prior to the winding onto theusual take-up roll, the fabric comprising the warp and the filling yarnsinterwoven therewith is skewed an equal amount in the opposite direcarereturned to their normal relation before the fabric is wound-upon thetake-up roll. The pattern of operation abovedescribed; is repeated, thewarp being gradually shifted from one to the other skewed positionduring the weaving of each tubular or two-ply portion of the fabric, sothat during the weaving of successive interwoven strip areas, the warpwill be skewed a maximum amount first in one and then in the otherdirection. As

will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 1 of the'drawings, adistinctive fabric pattern is produced in which the interwoven, stripareas are placed in alternately converging and diverging relation to oneanother, and in which .the filling yarns tend to fan out from thenarrower to the wider portions of'the transverse fabric sections boundedby the successive interwoven strip areas. While a fabric embodying theseveral features shown which are particularly adapted for themanufacture of cheese bandages, it will be understood that the inventionin its broader aspects is, not limitedto the-particular fabric shown orto g a fabric adapted for this particular purpose. It is contemplatedthat fabrics may be woven which may, for example, be single ply, may beso woven that different fabric areasare formed withthe filling yarnsinclined in varying amounts but in one direction only from aperpendicular to a line extending warpwise of the fabric, and to fabricsin which such variation of inclination tion to cause the individual warpyarns to resume their normal positions with relation to one another.Thefilling yarns woven into the warp while in the skewed position, arecaused bythe' latter return skewing operation of the warp to becomeinclined from the perpendicular to a line extending warpwise of thefabric. The skewing or distorting of that portion of thewarp passingthrough the loom is gradually increased in accordance with apredetermined pattern of operation of the loom to reach a maximum amountat the same time that the pattern mechanism operatesto discontinue thetubular weaving operation, and to initiate the interweaving of all of,

the warp yarns with the filling yarns to form an be evident that afan-like arrangement of the;

interwoven strip area across the width of the fabric. may, for example,be two inches in width, has been woven, the interweaving operation isdiscontinued, and tubular weaving is resumed.

That portion of the warp passing through the loom After an interwovenstrip area which.

7 been indicated and a specific form of the invention is now graduallyskewed in an opposite direction so that the-individual warp yarns arereturned to their normal relation, The skewing operation then continuesuntil the warp. has been skewed an equal amount in the oppositedirection when the pattern mechanism again becomes operative todiscontinue the tubular weaving and to start the weaving of anotherinterwoven strip area. 'It will be understood that during this entireoperation of skewing the warp, only that portion of the warp. passingthrough the drop wires, harnesses and lay is skewed, and that theportion of the woven fabric leaving the loom is at may be abrupt or'notsymmetrical. It-is contemplated also; that different fabric patterns maybe employed lengthwise of the fabric which may require variations intheform of apparatus employed from that generally indicated in Fig. 2.

While with the form of the invention illustrated, a relatively smallfan-like variation in position of the filling yarns isemployed, it iscontemplated that such variations may beof substantially greater extentas, for example, for the manufacture of decorative fabrics where anextreme variation in the neighborhood of 45 from the vertical to a linewarpwise of the fabric maybe employed.

It is contemplated further that fabrics may be manufactured inaccordance with the, invention in which the variation in position of thefilling yarns, may be employed to produce distinctive structural effectsother'than those produced in the particular form of the-inventionillustrated as, for

example, to particularly strengthen the fabric at a focal-point ofstress. For this purpose,'it will filling yarns may beemployedemanatingfrom such a focal point.-

The nature and scope of the invention having having been described, whatis claimed is:

l. A woven article for useas a cheese bandage having when opened out theshape-of a truncated cone which comprises two fabric plies connected attheir side edges bystrip interwoven areas in diverging relation to oneanother of which the warp ends extend transversely about the bandage,and the filling picks extending longitudinally of the bandage arefannedout so that the filling picks forming the interwoven areas are containedwithin said areas throughout their length.

2. A woven article for use as a cheese bandage having when opened outthe shape of a truncated cone which comprises two fabric plies connectedat their side edges by strip interweaves in diverging relation to oneanother of which the warp ends which may have a count of in the order of30 to 50 to the inch for each fabric ply and 60 to 100 tothe inch forthe interweaves adjacent groups of filling picks, having the picks ofeach group skewed in varying amounts with respect to the warp ends andinterwoven therewith to form in said fabric a series of fabric areas,considered warpwise of the fabric, the filling picks of each succeedingarea of the series being fanned out toward the opposite side of thefabric from the picks of the adjacent areas at each side thereof.

4, A woven fabric comprising, with warp ends,

adjacent groups of fillingpicks, having the picks of each group skewedin varying amounts with respect to the warp ends and'interwoventherewith to form in said fabric a seriesof adjacent fabric areasconsidered warpwise of the fabric, each succeeding area of the-seriesbeing tapered toward the opposite side of the fabric from the adjacentareas at each side thereof.

5. A woven fabric comprising, with warp ends, adjacent groups of fillingpicks fanned out in opposite directions transversely of the warp to forma series of adjacent fabric areas considered warpwise of the fabric inwhich filling picks of each area'are alternately in converging anddiverging relation across the width ofthe fabric, said adjacent fabricareas being further arranged in complementary relation with that portionof each succeeding fabric area having the filling picks thereof indiverging relation toward one side of the fabric adjacent to thatportion of the fabric areas at each side thereof having the fillingpicks thereof in converging relation toward the same side of the fabric.

6., A woven fabric blank as a step product in the manufacture of cheesebandages comprising, with warp ends, adjacent groups of filling picksskewed with relation to the warp ends in varying amounts and interwoventherewith to form a series of adjacent tapered two-ply fabric areasconsidered warpwise of the fabric with interwoven single ply strip areasintervening between said two-ply fabric areas, each two-ply fabric areaof the series being tapered toward the opposite side of the fabric fromthe adjacent two-ply fabric areas at each side thereof.

7. A woven fabric blank as a step product in the manufacture of cheesebandages comprising. with warp ends, adjacent groups of filling picksskewed with relation to the warp ends in varying amounts and interwoventherewith to form a series of adjacent tapered two-ply fabric areasconsidered warpwise of the fabric with interwoven single ply strip areasintervening between said two-ply fabric areas, each two-ply fabric areaof the series having the filling picks thereof in alternately converging and diverging relation across the width of the fabric to form atwo-ply fabric area tapered alternately in opposite directions acrossthe width of the fabric, each succeeding two-ply area of the seriesbeing in complementary relation to the adjacent two-ply areas at eachside thereof and having each tapered portion thereof adjacent to anoppositely tapered portion of said adjacent two-ply areas.

LAWRENCE ALEXANDER. SAVAGE.

REFERENCES I CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

